Finding A Perfect Accessible Holiday

The freedom that awheelchair accessible car provides can be liberating and open up the roads for everyone, but the shine can very quickly come off a holiday when you realise your destination isn't fully accessible. It's an unfortunate fact that in order to find a holiday that suits you, you're going to have to do some work and a bit of research because unfortunately, many holiday websites don't have full accessibility information. They're just not set up to help disabled people or those with special accessibility needs.

However, if you've ever stayed anywhere like Cornwall, for example, you may have already experienced the smaller houses, thinner accesses and numerous steps to reach many places. Wheelchair access may well be the first thing you'll need to investigate, as many older buildings simply aren't set up for them. Even if the buildings are accessible, in some places parking can be a problem with not enough space to open doors for a clear exit, or even room to open a tailgate fully and lower the wheelchair ramp or lift.

Service animals

It's unusual for service animals such as guide dogs or assitance dogs to be excluded from hotels or holiday rentals - but check. There may be circumstances where they are not allowed, or it may be that even if they're allowed, there simply isn't enough access for them, or somewhere for them to sleep at night.

Amenities

Wheelchair accessible services are something else you'll need to look into. For example, are the shower controls easy for someone in a wheelchair? Is there a shower seat? Is the bathroom friendly for people with disabilities at all? Some locations have put plenty of grab bars in place, making it easy to get in and out of a bath and shower, but that doesn't make the whole bathroom accessible.

And is the room phone setup for assistive listening devices? This is something that many hotels have now made standard in their rooms, but it's worth checking and double-checking at check-in, just in case it's an option that needs to be set when you arrive.

Public Transportation

Luckily, public transport in the UK is mostly wheelchair accessible with wider doorways on buses and trains and in many places, "kneeling buses", but if you decide to travel further afield, you might find transport isn't quite as easy to use. In some cases in the UK, it's simply not possible due to geography to provide assistive transportation, but they should make allowances for this. If your holiday is billed as an accessible one, there should be people on hand to help.

Plan Ahead

All in all, the advice we would give anyone looking to book a holiday is to plan well ahead, check every detail and, if possible, use an agent that is specifically set up to help people with disabilities.

Whatever you book, make sure it's a holiday to remember for all the right reasons!